What gift shall we bring?
Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” – Oren Arnold (1900-1980), journalist, essayist, and writer
As Christmas draws near, there are so many emotions and memories that begin to pop up. I remember loved ones who have died (especially those who passed during the holidays like my father, my uncle, and my great -and only- grandmother) and I think about those friends who are far away, but close in my heart. When those feelings of love lost come, they sometimes lead to remembering those whom I have wronged and to regrets for the kindnesses I failed to deliver, the friends that I haven’t kept up with, and any current disagreements I have with colleagues or family seem magnified by the sense of wanting to “put everything right” before Christmas. Indeed, the need to “put things right” is precisely the reason that God came to us through the baby Jesus. God wanted to be “with us” and then live in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. What can you make right before Christmas comes? What gifts of love, forgiveness, and kindness can you “wrap up” in the next couple of weeks? Many blessings as we all gather together our holiday gifts!
